My father had a stroke seven years before he died.

The stroke severely affected his left side and it was as if a line was drawn right down the center of his body and half of it worked and half didn’t. That included his eyesight. He was blind in the left side of both eyes. He was unable to walk. Swallowing and speaking was difficult. He needed 24-hour care.

The strides of medicine for stroke treatment have improved greatly since the late ’80s when my dad was stricken. Today, the key to success is to diagnose a stroke quickly and to start medications even faster.

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